Funhouse Mirror
by flashwitch
Summary: Steve and Tony have been dating for a few weeks, and Tony is introducing Steve to Rhodey for the first time. It's awkward for several reasons. Contains mention of internalised racism, internalised sexism, internalised homophobia. Follows on from Cracked Mirror.


**Before you read this: **  
**This story is a direct response to this comment on Cracked Mirror: "like him callin them negros...like i dnt need to see that and i don't think steve would have said that. At all." It's is set a couple of weeks later, with Tony introducing his new boyfriend to his best friend. It deals with a lot of social issues that I think Steve would have trouble with, but have been mostly ignored in the fandom. I wrote it very quickly so it may be edited at some point. I also want to say that I'm not meaning to have a go at the person who left that comment. They had a valid point. It just got in my head, and I wanted to explore the issue further.** **I also want to point out that I am a white British female. I am not meaning to be offensive in any way and truly believe in equality for all colours, religions, genders and sexualities. I just feel that we've all been avoiding the elephant in the room. I also know that internalised homophobia from Steve has been discussed several times in several excellent fics, but internalised racism or sexism has been largely avoided. I'm not entirely sure why.**

**I've put some websites for information, just remove the spaces. **

* * *

_African-American soldiers played a significant role in World War II. More than half a million served in Europe. Despite the numbers they faced racial discrimination: prior to the war the military maintained a racially segregated force. In studies by the military, blacks were often classified as unfit for combat and were not allowed on the front lines. They were mostly given support duties, and were not allowed in units with white soldiers._

_That changed in 1941, when pressure from African-American civil rights leaders convinced the government to set up all-black combat units, as experiments. They were designed to see if African-American soldiers could perform military tasks on the same level as white soldiers."_

- www .voanews. com

_"Over 2.5 million African-American men registered for the draft, and black women also volunteered in large numbers. While serving in the Army, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, they experienced discrimination and segregation but met the challenge and persevered."_

_-_ www. historyplace unitedstates/ aframerwar/

_"Soldiers were fighting the world's worst racist, Adolph Hitler, in the world's most segregated army," says historian and National Geographic explorer in residence Stephen Ambrose. "The irony did not go unnoticed._"

- news. nationalgeographic news/2001/02/0215_

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The first time Steve met Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes was embarrassing for all involved. Rhodey because he fanboyed all over the place. Cap because... well, he said some things that weren't very polite. He didn't mean to, and he was apologetic as hell when it was explained to him. But things were different back in his day.

He'd shook Rhodey's hand and saluted to him.

"You're a colonel?"

"Yes, sir. But there's no need for you to salute, sir. I mean, you're a legend!"

"Rank is rank, son. And an achievement like that should be acknowledged. You've done very well for yourself, making it to colonel." And that's where everyone started getting uncomfortable. Rhodey knew Steve meant it as a compliment, but something about the way he'd said it...

"Steve," Tony cut in, "Rhodey, let's just go and get food."

"Sure," Rhodey said, frowning slightly. "Pizza okay?"

"Sounds great, I know this place..." Tony trailed off as he led the way to the elevator.

They don't think anything more about it, not right then. They have a few beers, eat a few slices, relax. Then Rhodey showed Tony a picture of his new girlfriend on his phone. She was a JAG lawyer he'd met not that long ago and she was beautiful. Steve looked over Tony's shoulder and frowned, chewing on his lower lip. He glanced around, nervously.

"Should you really be showing that in public?"

"What? Why shouldn't I?"

"She's white. I mean, you could get in trouble." He was remembering watching Gabe getting beaten up in some small French town they'd passed through. All he'd done was talk to the innkeeper's daughter. Maybe flirted a little. They were there to help these people, to liberate the local town. But they only saw the colour of his skin.

"Do we have a problem, Captain?" Rhodes said, lifting his chin and crossing his arms.

"What? Oh, gosh no. I don't have a problem with it. One of the best men I ever knew was a negro. I just-."

"Wait," Tony cut him off, hands up, shaking his head. "Negro? Really? We don't use that word any more, Cap. It's offensive. Didn't SHIELD give you a primer on how things have changed?"

"Sure. I know that coloureds can vote now and ride the buses and drink from public water fountains. I think it's great."

"But no one covered attitudes? I mean, there's always going to be idiots who judge people by the colour of their skin. But for the most part, people are people." Tony scowled. "No one's going to beat him up for dating a white woman. Not in the middle of New York at least. Maybe there'd be a problem down south but..."

"Really?" Steve looked so broken open and hopeful that Tony had to smile at him.

"Really," he said.

"We say black now," Rhodey said, trying not to take this the wrong way. "Or African American."

"I'm sorry," Steve said, looking down at his plate. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean... everything is so different. I never agreed with segregation. I fought to end rubbish like that. I just..." He sighed and shook his head. "They tell me how to use computers and how you can have a device in your pocket that contains all this information... but no one's really talked to me about how... I mean, I saw on the news that there's a debate at the moment about legalising marriage for homosexuals. And there's a black," he glanced at Rhodes, unsure of the term and smiled when he nodded, "president. Women can work however they like now, and they can vote, but they're still not getting equal pay in every line of work. I don't understand how things can be so equal and yet unequal. And while I get how things have changed, that we're all supposed to be seen as the same now, I didn't realise that words have changed too. Negroes was polite in my time."

"I get it," Rhodey said, smiling. "I really do. If I honestly thought you'd meant to be offensive, I'd have left. They really haven't told you anything about the social changes?"

"They've told me some. But it's hard to judge. They tell me all colours and religions are equal, but then I see on the news about a Muslim getting arrested and sent to some prison in Cuba because he was Muslim and in the wrong place. Or I see a black," he used the word more confidently this time, "man suing a company because they refused to hire him on the colour of his skin."

"Yeah. I can see how that would be confusing," Tony said. He had his elbows on the table and was looking at Steve as though it was the first time he'd ever seen him.

"I'm trying hard not to say anything bad, or do anything wrong. I've always believed everyone was made equal before God. But back before, I had to be careful. I had a guy who was born American, but had Japanese parents and another one who was black on my team. I had to be careful not to show them any sort of special favour or they'd be treated badly by other soldiers. I stood up for them and I trusted them with my life, but there had to be clear boundaries or it could end badly for all of us."

"I hadn't really thought about that," Tony said. "I know that we've talked about how gay rights is a thing now, because of certain changes recently, but it never occurred to me that we'd need to talk about women's rights or race equality. I've been more focussed on the technology side of things."

"Because equal rights have been around your whole life, or the fight for them has been. But for me, it was normal that people were treated differently. Peggy was amazing and wonderful and could do anything she put her mind to, but she was treated as the exception, not the rule. And there was always some general telling her not to worry her pretty little head about the men's business. Gabe was attacked more than once by our own people because he was an easy target. Because he refused to obey a white man with a lower rank. And it was worse in a way for Jim. His parents were Japanese and I had to fight to stop him being sent to an internment camp."

"What?" Tony asked. He looked completely shocked and appalled. He'd never heard about that. He glanced at Rhodey to see his reaction, but the colonel was just nodding sadly.

"Yeah. After Pearl Harbour anyone even suspected of being related to Japan in any way was rounded up and put into camps. It was horrific some of the things that went on. Jim was already military at that point though, so there wasn't much they could do. General consensus was that he'd probably die anyway and that we needed a much cannon fodder as possible. When I first met him, he was in a Hydra prison, and one of my other guys, Dum-Dum, he looked at Jim and he said 'We taking everyone with us?'" Steve sighed and shook his head. "And this was a soldier who should have known better. Who did know better. But that's how things were."

Steve fell silent, the memories clawing away inside him. He forced them back down with a swallow of the beer. It didn't do anything for him, but it tasted right.

"Is that why you complemented me on my rank?"Rhodes asked after a moment. "That thing you said about being the exception, not the rule?" Steve winced.

"Was that wrong too? I just... it was a standard thing. When there was a black man or a woman who had achieved something, you told them how impressive that was. Not because I thought less of them, but because they'd had to fight harder." He shook his head. "I hate this. It's like... like looking in a funhouse mirror. Everything you know is right there, but it's all twisted and distorted and you don't know how to react."

"Oh. It's okay, I understand, but people might think its patronising."

"Oh. Okay."Steve looked incredibly uncomfortable, so Tony stepped in. He asked Rhodey about his girl and the topic moved on, just like the world had.

* * *

**A couple of websites for information on the struggles of Japanese Americans during the war:**

** www. / research/arc/topics/japanese-americans/**

** www. theatlantic infocus/2011/08/world-war-ii-internment-of-japanes e-americans/100132/**

** wiki/Japanese_American_internment**

** . ualberta . **

**I also recommend George Takei's allegiance.**

**here's an article about the way that the Captain America movie sort of ignored the racism and struggles that an integrated team would have had:**

** www. overthinkingit 2011/07/26/captain-america-holocaust-racism/**

**and another one:**

** korraisnottan. tumblr post/24256806722/kenmania666-deal-with-it-whitewas hing-is**

**And one more:**

** wearerespectablenegroes .blogspot . **

**I'm not going to post a bunch about women in the war because that's something that's more publicised. The fact that women manned the factories while the men was away is something that everyone is aware of, and it's contribution to the struggle for equal rights.**


End file.
